Markey defeats Gomez in special U.S. Senate election

Wednesday

Jun 26, 2013 at 12:01 AMJun 26, 2013 at 4:23 AM

Throughout the U.S. Senate race, Democrat Ed Markey’s opponent tried to turn his 37-year career in Congress into a liability, painting him as a part of dysfunction in Washington, D.C. A solid majority of Massachusetts voters apparently disagreed Tuesday, adding at least 17 months to the veteran lawmaker’s tenure on Capitol Hill.

David Riley

Throughout the U.S. Senate race, Democrat Ed Markey’s opponent tried to turn his 37-year career in Congress into a liability, painting him as a part of dysfunction in Washington, D.C.

Markey will now complete the term former Sen. John Kerry left to become U.S. Secretary of State. Markey will not have long to rest from the campaign trail – his term ends in 2015, and if he hopes to win another one, he will have to run again next year.

In his victory speech at the Park Plaza Hotel in Boston, Markey vowed to fight for everything from rebuilding roads to the economy to gun safety legislation to college affordability.

“I do not go to occupy a seat in the Senate,” Markey said. “I go there to stand for you, to speak for you, to seek change that lifts up your families and your future.”

During the campaign, he said voters shared their hopes and dreams as well as their frustrations with Washington gridlock.

“I am tired of gridlock, but I will never compromise on our principles,” Markey told the crowd shortly before blue, red and white confetti began flying.

In a concession speech, Gomez said he would not make excuses for his defeat, but noted that Markey’s campaign massively outspent his. One thing he learned in the military, he said, is that “not every fight is a fair fight.”

“In the face of this great adversity, we could not have fought a better fight and I could not be more proud of what we did,” Gomez said.

The results came as little surprise to political observers. Maurice “Mo” Cunningham, an associate political science professor at UMass-Boston, said both candidates left much to be desired in the races they ran.

“In this state, a generic Democrat defeats a generic Republican, and that’s what we got,” he said.

Cunningham called the race “a triumph of centralized money,” noting the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee lined up behind Markey early on. Markey raised and spent more than three times as much as Gomez.

Peter Ubertaccio, a political analyst and director of the Martin Institute at Stonehill College in Easton, said results mirrored a divide seen in other recent elections. Gomez fared well on the South Shore, Cape Cod, parts of the North Shore and Worcester County, while Markey crushed him elsewhere, Ubertaccio said.

“Until Republicans can start to make in-roads in the Greater Boston area in particular, they’re going to continue to see themselves shut out of statewide office,” he said.

Many town and city clerks, as well as Secretary of State William Galvin, predicted meager turnout, thanks to a combination of voter apathy about the race and a heat wave that might have discouraged some voters from venturing out.

Galvin predicted just 37 percent of voters would show up at the polls. Initial results suggested turnout was even lower - 27 percent.

The battle to fill Kerry’s former Senate seat lasted just six months. Kerry stepped down in January. Markey defeated fellow U.S. Rep. Stephen Lynch in an April 30 primary election. Gomez, a political newcomer, emerged a surprise winner in the primary after a three-way race with former U.S. Attorney Michael Sullivan and state Rep. Dan Winslow, R-Norfolk.

A former private equity investor, one-time Navy SEAL and son of Colombian immigrants, Gomez sought to cast Markey as an out-of-touch political insider. Gomez, who lives in Cohasset, portrayed himself as an independent thinker who would buck Republican orthodoxy and shake up Washington.

Markey, a Malden native, sought to tie Gomez to Republican policies generally unpopular in Massachusetts, such as his opposition to a federal assault weapons ban and willingness to vote to appoint an anti-abortion justice to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Markey also cast himself as a legislative leader on telecommunications, energy and the environment and a longtime advocate for the state.

Republicans hoped for an upset like Scott Brown’s 2010 defeat of Democrat Martha Coakley for Senate, but Cunningham said that was likely a result of unusual circumstances that have since diminished – a terrible economy and President Barack Obama’s unpopularity.

Ubertaccio said Massachusetts voters have proven willing to send Republicans to the State House, but they are more wary of electing them to Congress. That leaves GOP candidates running not just against their opponents, but distancing themselves from their national party.

“It’s just hard to run for office when you have to run against your own party at the same time,” Ubertaccio said.

(Reporters Nicholas Iovino and Alex Bloom contributed to this report. David Riley can be reached at 508-626-4424 or driley@wickedlocal.com.)